


I knew I loved you

by Pseudo_L



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-04-25 01:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4942288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudo_L/pseuds/Pseudo_L
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a incident in a Hero Tv live everything changes in Nathan and Antonio's lifes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was first posted on fanfiction.net with the title "I knew I loved you" in 2012.  
> I've been making some changes, upgrading it and adding some stuff.  
> Sorry for any mistake, english is not my first language.

Another call from hero TV, and as almost always Nathan was the first to arrive. Near him was the truck of Kronos Food, which meant that poor Rock Bison was about to be launched. Antonio was lucky that Nathan arrived just in time to give him a ride, being his friend he found out the poor Bison was afraid of heights and was too shy to reveal that to his sponsors.

He opened his car window and shouted "Wanna a ride?"

"Thanks Fire Emblem. Of course I want a ride." Antonio was relieved to see Nathan, he truly hated the launcher they used, but they were the sponsors so he couldn't complain much. Specially now that he was second to last on the Hero Tv league.  
"Honey, are really lucky I like you butt or I would leave you there." Nathan opened the passengers door so Antonio could come in. 

"Dont forget the sit belt"  
The police and the firefighters were already there, trying to do the best possible to take all the people off the building. The flames had already destroyed a bunch of houses and the firefighter were doing their best to stop the fire from destroying the rest of the neighborhood. He could hear Mario announcing the point they received for their arriving, as always Nathan was the first and had 25 points, and Antonio himself got 5 points. Agnes was informing them about the details of the case, and for what he could understand there was still a family trapped inside one of the buildings  
.   
"Bison, come with me inside there's still people there." Nathan asked him. Antonio asked himself if Nathan was crazy but followed him.  
  
Once inside the building they begun searching the divisions trying to find them alive. It was hard to keep the hopes since the whole building was collapsing and it was starting to get harder to breath inside. They heard a cry, a baby's cry, which lead them to a small upstairs room. Bison helped Nathan going up since the stairs had already fallen. he had to move fast, the roof could fall at any time. "Bison, look for his parents please, I will get the kid." Nathan was finally him the kids room, the fire was make a circle around the bed. It was stupid fighting fire with fire but was the best chance he had. Once near the baby he made a fire barrier to stop the roof from falling over them. He picked the baby and left the room looking for Bison. He was carrying two bodies, whom didn't seem to move. Antonio's face was down and his eyes were full of guilt, he didn't found them on time.  They could hear Sky High entering the building. Nathan called him to help Bison at least take the bodies out.  
  
"AND LOOKS LIKE FIRE EMBLEM MADE A RESCUE" Mario shouted. "100 POINTS TO FIRE EMBLEM"  
Nathan told them to wait a little to ask Agnes to cut to commercials while they took the bodies, the public didn't need to see that. Nathan wanted to be happy for saving that life but he wasn't, the kid was now an orphan and. The baby's parents were dead and he was all alone in the world. He called Agnes, the public didn't need to see that.  
"Agnes, honey, we have a situation, please cut to commercials. Sky High and Rock Bison have the bodies of the parents, it was too late to save them."  
  
" WE WILL BE BACK AFTER THE COMMERCIALS TO SEE OUR BELOVED HEROES." He cut the contact with Agnes to tell the others that they could come out. Nathan asked the medics in the area to see if the baby was alright, while he helped his fellow heroes. The paramedics tried to revive them without positive results. One of them gave Nathan the baby's mother wallet so he could find her name, a direction where he could find that little kid family. "Andrea Stein" and for the information on the wallet the baby had about seven months.  
"Sir Fire Emblem we are gonna take the baby to the hospital for further tests, since he inhaled too much smoke. " Thanks darling." AND WE ARE BACK. TODAY FIRE EMBLEM GOT 125 AND IS NOW IN 3RD PLACE ON OUR LEAGUE. Unfortunately our heroes couldn't save everyone, Andrea and Joseph Stein where already dead they the heroes arrived to the local. And with this tragic news we finish our program."  
  
Nathan gave Antonio a ride back to the hero TV building. They both stay silent during all trip. The last year was not the best for Antonio and this only could make it worse, being last in the league gave him more problems with his sponsors, his friendship with Kotetsu was also having problems, since Barnaby appeared the two ex-delinquents seem to go out together less and he had almost no friends outside of the heroes.   
The heroes were all back to the Hero TV building. When Antonio took of his helmet, Nathan could see he was crying even if he tried to hide that. He felt guilty for the death of those two people, for not saving them on time. Nathan seated on his side, and put his arm around the bigger man shoulder.  
  
" You know is not your fault."  
" If only I was faster... I would save them, and that kid would have his parents by his side. If only I was a better hero or had more useful power like Kotetsu maybe..."  
"Antonio, is not your fault, no one is guilty in this situation, you did your best, and if you consider yourself guilty, I shall be as guilty as you. Now I want you to try to cheer up cause I need to have a talk with your beloved Agnes."  
  
Antonio tensed up a little, he was pretty quiet about his crush on Agnes, and was surprised to see that Nathan knew about it. Was he that obvious about that? Or did he said something one of the nights they went out and Antonio drank a little too much? After all none of the other heroes said a word about that. Agnes opened the door, and Antonio lowered his face hoping she didn't see him blush neither his red eyes.  
"Agnes darling, can you do me a big favor? Can you find out if the kid we save has some live relatives?" Asked Nathan.   
"Nathan, I already tried to do that but I am afraid that kid has no family alive. I will contact ..."  
"No, Agnes. I want you to contact Judge Yuri and ask him what I have to do to adopt this child." Antonio looked at Nathan surprised and without knowing what to say about that situation.    
"Don't you want to think about it better, raising a kid is a big responsibility." Nathan nodded in agreement "Nathan you are acting without thinking. I want you to think more about it, remember that if you adopt him, you will be a single father and you are the owner of a big company and also a hero, you won't have much free time.  
"I understand all that, and believe me when I say I can arrange that."  
  
Antonio  admired Nathan's decision, but like Agnes he was afraid his friend couldn't arrange time for everything, or that Nathan was making that decision because he felt guilty about what happened to the kids parents. Or even that groups who were against Nathan as a hero since he was a gay hero (Antonio was sick those idiots who thought Nathan would be a bad influence and make their kids gay), and threaten him or the kid. But if that was really what Nathan wanted, Antonio would help him in everything he could. He tried to ignore the rest of their conversation while taking of his suit, which took longer than usual since he always had help with that. Why couldn't he have a modern armor like the other guys?  
"Wait a little hot stuff, maybe we call go out for a drink if you want. I will help you get out of your armor, just give me a minute to take my uniform."  
"Only if you give me a ride." Nathan almost forget that Antonio didnt have a car. "So where are we going?"  
  
"I imagine you don't want to go to the Hero Bar" Nathan was right, the last thing Antonio needed was someone making some remark about their failure. "So if you don't mind going to Narcissus."  
"Isn't that...?" Antonio heard that name before he was sure  
"Yes it is a gay bar, but you just have to pretend you are my boyfriend and I promise that no other guy will bother you all night." Antonio just nodded. "I promise I will get us a room and the drinks are on me in case you are worried about spending too much money".  
  
Antonio blushed, he knew that Nathan wouldn't make anything that made him uncomfortable His ass gropings were just some kind of friendly thing, although at first Antonio wasn't a fan of it and really had a bad reaction to it but times changed and Antonio's knew better than to think about them as something other than that.  
  
  
  
They finally arrived to Narcissus and Antonio could say for sure that Nathan knew everyone there, everyone asked him if Antonio was his boyfriend, question Nathan answer with enthusiasm.  
"Of course he is, you know being the owner of this place has a good side after all"   
"You are the owner?" Antonio asked surprised, he didnt know he had a bar  
"You're so cute Antonio, of course I am, this and Adonis are my two bars here in Sternbild. Get us a private room please. And make sure you serve us the best drinks you can get."Asked Nathan to the bartender.  
  
Inside all he could see was people with flashing outfits dancing to some song that was on the tops right now. A little farther he could see a room with LCD playing some kind of gay porn parody of the Heroes which even Nathan admitted was a bit disturbing, and asked him to ignore it.  
"Believe me honey, I don't like it more than you do, but they love it and who am I to say no" Antonio felt a little uneasy with everyone looking at him, wanting to know who the mysterious boyfriend was. They were stopped sometimes by Nathan's friends who wanted to talk a little and know more about his new boyfriend. Nathan put his arm around Antonio's waist as a sign of pose.  
  
"He is really shy, and if you don't mind us we need some time alone" and proceed to wink at them.  
They went to a large room at the second floor. Everything about in that room was red or some variant of the color, with some bits of brown. In the middle of the room there was a big couch, which looked more like a mattress with a table near it, with two glasses and some wine and some snacks. The room had also a king size bed that Antonio could imagine it's function in that place. Antonio picked a glass of wine for him and poured wine in Nathan's glass and sat next to him. He couldn't stop thinking about the failed rescue mission, and the future of the kid and his own future as a hero.  
"And there's also condoms and lube in the drawer if we need it" said Nathan making his friend choke on his wine. "Calm down, I am only joking, we can leave it to another day."  
  
"Maybe another day." And this time was Nathan's turn to choke, he wasn't expecting Antonio to play along. "Nathan, you know, I really admire what you're gonna do. I know you will be a great father, Nathan. Don't let them make you think otherwise."   
"You can't imagine how happy that makes me." Nathan smiled and maybe it was the wine but Antonio could have swear he saw Nathan blush.  
They both drunk without talking much, they wouldn't need to drive back home since they could stay in that room all night. They ordered also some beers since Antonio wasn't a big wine fan, Antonio wasn't also a happy drunk, after the fourth beer he start talking about himself, focusing in his failure as an hero. It was true that these last years weren't the best of his career especially after Sky High debut and the rest of the kids, but there was once times when he was second in all seven, one of the times losing only to Nathan himself and many other to his friend Kotetsu.  
"Those were the times, you know, no super tech armors, only raw power and spandex for the most part. I am surprised you never changed into a armor." he could see Nathan almost offended by that notion  
"I would be committing a crime by covering this body. You are the one that should be changing to spandex, easier to move, wouldn't make your power reluctant and it would make wonders for you ass." Antonio laughed at that, only Nathan would care that much about his assets. "Seriously, you just need a costume upgrade darling."  
"Kronos wouldn't like that, too much money to spend for a bad hero."  
" You are not a bad hero, the problem is that the company stopped caring about you and just gave you that stupid suit cause Sky High had a super tech suit. And now if you don't mind I am gonna put that bed into good use."  Antonio was blushing but he blamed on the alchool, the other man couldnt help but giggle " Darling I am only going to make my beauty sleep. And don't worry I am the only person who can use this room, so when I am at the bar and don't feel like going home I use it. My bodyguard Aaron just texted me saying that they have closed the bar, now if you want to join me feel free, I promise I won't bite much. I might use your arm as a pillow but that's it. And don't try to wake me up during the night, tomorrow morning I'm going to visit Adrien at the hospital and I can't be late.   
"Maybe later." Antonio thought to himself, "I am too sober for this. "  
He kept watching Nathan as changed to light blue pajamas pants and a white shirt, his friend had great legs, ass and a very sculpted body, things Antonio didn't notice before since he was too busy trying to keep Nathan's hand out of his butt and to keep his job. He paid attention to his beer again to avoid looking like he was staring. it was also the first time he had seen Nathan without makeup, and was surprised at the difference. "Nighty honey ~<3 "- Said Nathan only seconds before falling asleep.  
"Goodnight." Antonio looked at his phone, 3 missed calls from Jeff, his agent, a call from Kronos, and a message from Kotetsu, that didn't mean good news. He would call back and ask what they needed but it was 2:03 a.m. and he was sure that Jeff wouldn't like being woken up by him. Maybe it was time to stop drinking and sleep. He didn't have any clothes to change to, and since Antonio was taller and larger than Nathan, his pajamas wouldn't fit him. He would sleep in his underwear. Remembering were he was and looking at Nathan sleeping made his cheeks red, "Come one Antonio, there's no need to be acting stupid, is only sleeping nothing more, it isn't like Kotetsu didnt do that many times before -they were drunk to the point of passing out so that was different- Breath and go the fucking to sleep." He got into the bed and laid besides Nathan. He didn't know what to do, that situation was all kinds of awkward and Antonio didn't want to make it worse, so he kept himself as still as he could, afraid of touching his friend and waking him up. Nathan moved a little getting closer to Antonio, his face resting in the latino's chest. Ok, now the situation was unlimited levels of awkward. Without thinking Antonio put his big arms around Nathan.  
  
" This is going to get so awkward in the morning. "


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that in this fanfiction Rock Bison is bisexual, he just isn't out about it, so Nathan doesn't know about it

It was 6.30 am when the alarm rang. Nathan woke up and saw himself trapped around the bigger man arms and feeling a hot breath on his ear. It felt great being like that so he decided to stay like that a little more before turning to Antonio. The latino hero slowly open his eyes, taking a little time to process the whole situation, he had his arms around the other hero and their faces were really close, more close than they've ever been before. And as the situation couldn't get any awkward for Antonio, he was sure he had an erection. 

"Good morning darling"- said happily Nathan, while kissing Antonio's crooked nose- "I would love to stay like this a little longer but I really have to go."

Antonio never notice how green Nathan eyes were because of the pink lenses he was always wearing. He also could swear he saw a little stubble in his face, it was so different seeing him all natural with no make up. Not that he didn't like Nathan in his full glory but it was a nice change.

"I'm sorry,... I didn't mean" – begun to apologize Antonio

"Don't worry little Bison, I wont tell anyone our secret. A lady doesn't kiss and tell. Just gonna get ready and leave you here, you can go whenever you want, I will give you the key to the back door.”

"I have a reunion today so if you left me at home so I could change clothes it would be great."

"No problem.”

Nathan got out of the bed and Antonio covered himself ashamed and not knowing how to deal with that situation. Nathan took about forty minutes in the bathroom, between showering, shaving, applying his trademark make up and dressing. Time that the other man used to over think a little about the situation. It was just a friendly night some drinks and sleep, and it wasn't like they had sex. Antonio didn't even understand why he couldn't stop thinking about the situation and turning it into strange scenarios. He was pretty sure that for Nathan it wasn't anything special so why complicate it. And it felt wrong thinking about that considering the last night. He also couldn't stop thinking about why would Nathan have a room and private bathroom on the bar, but he would save the questions for later.

Once Nathan got back to the room, Antonio invited Nathan to eat breakfast at his house, since they were already going to pass by, it would only be nice to invite the other hero. 

None of the heroes besides Kotetsu visited his house, and that was starting to make the latino a little self-conscious, after all he lived in a modest apartment on the bronze level, and Nathan was one of the most influential and rich people in Sternbild. To be honest even Nathan's car looked more expensive than his house and his old car together.

They got out of the room and got into the parking lot.

-Don't mind the car, still trying to find another ferrari to try to replace by baby. - Said Nathan before Antonio could even say anything. - My poor Terarossa. 

-Nathan you know I don't care about what you ride.

-Even if it is yours? - Nathan had a malicious smile on his face, which made Antonio confused.

-I think I told you I don't own a car.

-Who talked about a car.

\- I should be expecting this, right! - He ended up laughing, that was the kind of thing he should be always expecting of Nathan. - It is to early for this kind of jokes Nath'. And why the hell would I complain today, we came in this car yesterday.

 

It took about 15 minutes to get in Bronze level, now they only had to reach his neighborhood. Antonio took the opportunity to ask about the room at the bar. "Ya know that room isn't inside the bar, it was an old apartment that I bought, literally the first one I bought on my own, and since it brings me good memories I just cant sell it. a bunch of years I bought the bar and decided to link them together. But don't worry I am the only one who could open it from the outside since there's only one key, and from you need it to go to that room."

They finally arrived. It was a old neighborhood, but it was nice living there, and the rent was cheap,which for Antonio was a necessity to save a little money after his retirement as a hero. Nathan put his car on Antonio's spot in the apartment garage.

The house was a modest one, a room, a small living room with only a couch and TV, a kitchen and a bathroom. The perfect fit for a bachelor like him, whom didn't spent much time home. And that was really obvious since there were some clothes in one of he rooms waiting to be washed and the trash bag was full. 

Nathan started to prepare breakfast while Antonio took a shower, since he was too ashamed to take it on the "room".

After looking around the kitchen only to find a fridge full of beer cans, yogurts and cans of sausages. Not even milk or eggs he had in that house.

"Antonio, where are the eggs?- shouted Nathan sick of trying to find them.

"I don't think I have any! You can go and ask Ms Robinson if she can borrow some. She is the old lady who lives next door, just knock and say it is for me!"

Nathan did as he was told. He knocked at the door and a small old lady holding a cat opened it. She was about half his size, with short grey hair and big round glasses. 

"Hello! I'm sorry for bothering you, but Antonio told me to come..."

"Come in. You must be Tonio's new boyfriend."s Nathan tried not to look surprised. What the hell did she mean by boyfriend. 

\- No, no I'm just a friend. - He was under the impression that she didn't believe him cause of the expression of her face - Antonio asked if you could just give him some eggs for breakfast.

\- Of course. Come with me, just be careful not to step on the cats,

He followed the lady around the house which had cats everywhere. He could count at least 10 following him and trying to play. The house was old and had a really vintage cat motif all over it, expect for all the Rock Bison and Wild tiger (and a Fire Emblem action figure) merch in the living room. It wouldn't surprise him if she knew about her neighbor activities as a hero.

\- Here they are. six eggs and Antonio's lunch. Tell that boy needs take care of himself more and worry less about his job. I am sure that he wont lose it. And also tell him that I will make dinner for him, you can also come if you want, Antonio's friends are always welcome to come.

 

-Don't worry miss robinson, I will tell him that. thank you once again for the eggs and the invitation.

Nathan went back to Antonio's and knocked at the door. he should have left the door open; Antonio was in the shower and maybe he wouldn't listen. He tried to knock again just in case.

-You should have left the door open. "He could hear the latino shouting behind the door.

Antonio opened the door only with a towel around his waist. "god is testing me" while in the gym never took a peak on his teammates and yesterday he was already sleeping when the other hero stripped and joined him in bed., now he could't help but stare. Not that he needed to stare to know that at least physically Antonio was just his favorite kind of man, big and strong, with great arms and assets (a really important fact for him) and with a little of chest hair. But he couldn't afford to have sexual thoughts about of of his hero friend, things could get awkward easily. The latino hero noticed that his friend was staring and in a blink of eyes his cheeks turned pink.

-Gonna stay there staring at me for much longer? Or are we gonna eat breakfast? " Quickly said Antonio trying to get out of that situation.

\- Getting sassy aren't we, now go and dress yourself while i prepare the breakfast. 

Nathan was already cooking once Antonio got back to the kitchen now fully dressed. He appeared behind Nathan and stole a piece of sausage from the frying pan.

"Wait for it, be a useful ox and prepare some tea and toasts for me."

"so you re not eating eggs nor sausages?" Nathan looked at him pretending to be offended

"How do you think i keep this body? Now go do what i asked you , please, and then sit."

 

-"you know, you look great without all that make up..." said Antonio, trying to compliment his friend but after saying it he quickly saw it was a idiot thing to say, Nathan loved wearing make up and he wouldn't care much about other opinions. "And you have pretty eyes.

\- Thanks honey, but I feel naked without it, so it might be the first and last time you will see me like that. And don't you dare saying that I look better without it."

"I didn't say anything like that, i was just saying that you good. I know better than saying those kinds of things… sorry anyway it was a stupid thing to say. The part about the eyes is true" Nathan was surprised, it was really unexpected listening for Mr Muscle to compliment him instead of being afraid. 

He served Antonio's breakfast and sat in front of him drinking his tea. Curious and trying to get into a serious tone Antonio asked "So Nathan have you thought better about the situation with the kid." He didn't expect the other hero to change his opinion after all he didn't have that much time to think about that.

"Yes, and my opinion is the same. Antonio." 

 

"Don't get offended that i asked. I never imagined you liked kids." He was being honest, sure Nathan was always acting like a mother to Karina and Pao-Lin but this was different. This was a full time job that required all Nathan's attention.

"Understandable, the only time you saw me with a small kid, was the day we played daycare with the mayor's son and i got hit by a piece of roof." Both were laughing at the situation, that day was a comical one. Who would have know that the kid would love Pao-Lin. They were happily talking about their adventures during the last year when their bond got stronger than the strictly professional relationship they had before, when Antonio got a call. It was Jeff, Antonio's manager. He was the one that helped Antonio break into the Hero world and if he had anyone to thank about his career would be him. He was always trying to minimize the hero's companies with the sponsors and taking care of all his social media presence (Antonio was never one to use social media and in this time and age it was a very important thing for heroes). "Morning Jeff…"

"Can you imagine how many times I tried contacting you last night and the one before?" Maybe around 20 thought the hero, he didn't count and wasn't really in a mood to answer those calls yesterday. "The big boss of Kronos has been bothering me cause this days cause he wants a reunion with us! I am gonna mark one for today. Can you be here today, like 8 a.m. or something like that?"

 

"Yah no problem, give thirty minutes" Great, now he needed to ask Nathan if he could give him a ride, he could ask Jeff to come and pick him at home, but he was sure his manager already working at any other of his sponsors. Nathan whispered to him that he would give the other hero a ride.

"Do you need me to pick you up or are you calling a taxi?"

"I have a ride. Don't worry." answered Antonio, Jeff threatened him not to get late, since it was a really important reunion and any mistake could ruin their partnership with Kronos.

Antonio proceeded eating his breakfast as fast as he could, put on his jacket and got into the car with Nathan.

 

"Y'a know where the Kronos building is right?"

"Of course I do. I've been there before"

They didn't talk much after that. The latino was really nervous about that reunion, after so many alerts he truly believed this time he was getting fired. Specially after yesterday's fiasco. But maybe it was for the best, that would leave the chance to Kronos invest in a younger hero, and a more useful one, and Antonio could go back to having a normal life after all these years. Maybe he should just quit and save himself the humiliation.

 

"I know what you are thinking, you're thinking about quitting if they don't fire you. I am telling you this as a friend, and someone who cares about you very much." Nathan was serious this time, and it showed, his voice was several tones lower than is usually friendly flirty tone. "Don't do it. Talk to them ask for an armor update, you haven't change anything since the big armor boom on super heroes and it is now a little out dated, with all the tech evolution in the last 5 years it is only normal that your armor gets surpass by these new ones." Antonio tried to interrupt but the other hero proceeded to talk now back to his usually tone " I am not saying for you to change into spandex, not that I would hate the idea, but i don't need distractions while working. Believe me when I say you still have so much to give to Hero TV and it would be a shame for you to retire in such bad position." 

Antonio remained silent, Nathan knew exactly what he was thinking about and maybe he was right. He just needed to figure out a way to tell that to Jeff and try to convince Mr Connor from Kronos that it was a necessity and it was a good investment. They wouldn't be happy about he idea because it would require to much work but it was the best he could do.

"Or you could always fight crime naked, that would make you gain fans for sure but then it would be me needing a change of armor."

They both start laughing. Only Nathan could think about that stuff and say it out loud, and that was one f the things liked on him as a friend, The way he always spoke what he was thinking, and his capacity to cheer people up.

"Must be nice not worrying about that shit a know, sponsors and stuff."

"It isn't always easy believe me, but is is better than being rejected from being the way I am. Before founding Helios and having the power to sponsor myself I was rejected sponsorship by various companies because I was gay and wanted to be open about it. Because I didn't want to end up like " raging tornado" and pass myself as straight till retirement. And I wanted to be a good role model so that kids like me have someone to aspire to be. I don't know how much this as changed after all this years, but I don't think it changed that much"

"Glad you didn't quit cause of all that shit. Wait a second, what did you say about Raging Tornado and how do you know that?" 

"Friends in common and I can say the gay scene on Sternbild some years ago was really really small." Antonio couldn't even speak, he knew the rumors but they always thought they were only based on stereotypes because of his uniform, who the hell thought it was a good idea to have an uniform with nipples and a strange motifs on the crotch area anyway? He knew Nathan' hero suit also had some focus around the crotch but it was Nathan and knowing him he wouldn't expect anything else. "By the way honey if they fire you just call me and I will try to solve the situation" Nathan stopped the car, they already arrived at Kronos building and he could see Jeff waiting for him screaming to his phone. "Do you need a ride back home?"

"Don't worry I will take the train, after the reunion I still have to go to Hero Tv and make my daily trains. And Nathan thank you for everything, I was really needing to hear that. See you later."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is only about the Rock Bison reunion

"Hi, Jeff!"  
Jeff nodded and kept listening carefully to the phone call.  
Antonio and Jeff were classmates in high school, but back then they wouldn't even consider themselves friends, they talked once in a while in the Judo club and once did a chemistry project together and that was pretty much it. They had reunited many years later at Kronos when Antonio started his career as Rock Bison, and Jeff was just one more of the guys at the Marketing department. They discovered they had judo classes on the same gym and since then they developed a friendship. Eventually, Jeff got fired from Kronos because of cuts on the company and Antonio hired him as an agent, they were friends and having a person whom he trusts was an important thing to him.   
Michael Jefferson, Jeff was a short and skinny man with curly short blond hair and blue eyes, and wore suits pretty much every day. A perfect contrast to Antonio's casual and rough style.  
"I WILL SAY THIS FOR THE FIFTH TIME, MY CLIENT IS NOT QUITTING BEING A HERO AND STOP SPREADING THOSE RUMORS" More magazines spreading rumors, exactly what he needed. He turned off his phone and turned to Antonio. It was obvious the manager was aware it was Nathan that bought him there and started jumping to conclusions.  
"Antonio if someone finds out about this you're done for good. "Antonio wasn't sure if his manager was talking about he fact that his client just came out of one of his rivals sponsor's car or he was thinking that the hero and Nathan were an item.  
"Jeff, it was just a ride. Stop giving me shit for that. Also is not like they know me outside of the hero persona. "  
"I know that, is just that magazines are now crazy about trying to find out the people behind the heroes because of Barnaby and you know that Mr Seymour is a well-known person in this city so I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow I see your face all over magazines under the title Who is the mysterious boyfriend of Nathan Seymour!, the internet is all over that right now. I know you are very low key but try to be more careful, please."  
"I am not his boyfriend, we are just friends, but I will try to be more careful." Why he hell did he jump to the conclusion that conclusion, and what he meant by all over the internet. Better forget about that and focus on the reunion. Jeff gave Antonio a little mask, much like the one Kotetsu wears, to wear. it was a normal procedure although Antonio thought it was stupid, they could see almost all his face, but rules were rules.  
"Jeff before we go I need to talk to you about something I've been thinking about all the hero things again and I think I need a hero suit change."   
"And you tell me that now! I will see what I can do about it, but let's wait to see what is this reunion about" responded Jeff calmly  
They were guided by a young woman to the reunion room on the 15th floor. Jeff was trying to flirt with her the whole time, it wasn't the first time this happened, Antonio was almost sure of that, judging by her reactions. The hero kept silent trying not to laugh at the situation and once Jeff was reminded that his friend was also there he didn't say another word.  
"Just go to the second door on your left" indicated the woman to both men. "And Mr Manager, see you after the reunion." And proceeded to wink at Jeff, and now Antonio was 100% sure this was a recurrent thing.  
"So you and her…"  
"Ssh Bison, not of your business, but yah we've been hanging out a couple of times, nothing serious for now. Now let's just focus on the reunion and let me do the talking."

In the reunion room was the whole hero and marketing departments of Kronos, about 15 people from what Antonio could count but it was dark and he was sure there were more people there. And at the extreme of the table was Mr. Robert Diaz, the owner and CEO of Kronos.  
He was a man on his fifties, tall and large. In the last years, he started balding and his hair was starting to get grey. He was paying attention his secretary whom just informed him about their arrival.  
  
-"Welcome Jeff, Bison. We were just waiting for you to start, please take a seat." He got up and welcomed both then whispered to Antonio "Just so you know, no one at this company and Hero TV blames you for the tragedy yesterday." That didn't put he hero on ease. "Now let's proceed to start this reunion."

A man walked to the screen full of pie charts, notes and sketches.  
"We, the marketing team, together with the hero department, spent the last couple of months making a census. Every Kronos product had a code that our costumers could use online to get promotions and for that they would have to answer a couple of questions to let us know what they think about our hero and Hero TV in particular. We also send them in a physical form with our monthly newsletter. After reading every survey, we made this charts according to the information we got."  
Antonio tried to get a good look at the graph but it was all fuzzy (he started to think that maybe his doctor was right and he needed glasses to read and sew).  
-I'm sorry to interrupt you, could you give the filled surveys and all the information you are presenting? I want to read them myself." Jeff was staring at him, making Antonio doubt if that was a good idea or not till he saw the thumbs up and heard a really quiet "good job".  
The man presenting the reunion agreed to give him all the material after the reunion and proceeded to change the slide to one with a single pie chart. It was obvious that the chart was about the answers to the question "Who is your favorite hero?" And the results worried Antonio, he lost a lot of popularity last year, and somehow he was even less popular than Origami Cyclone. Barnaby was the most popular hero (25% of the answers), that didn't surprised him, almost every hero was a favorite in their debut year.  
Sky High was close with 22%, Blue Rose with 21% (Antonio was sure she was way more popular than that), then both Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem with 10% (it was a little strange since Nathan had more hate groups than any hero with mostly religious freaks, and he was also sure that the very first Lunatic attacks hurt his popularity since people believed he was the criminal), Wild Tiger with 7% ( his partnership with Barnaby was making wonders for his popularity), Origami Cyclone with 3% and there he was rock bottom (no pun intended) with 2%.  
He was ashamed of that result, and even thought they were giving him a bigger percentage than what it was the reality. He glanced at Jeff who was starting to get nervous, those were really bad news and then looked at Mr Diaz. He didn't look pleased by those results but wasn't surprised by them. The man presenting explained those were the results of the surveys and changed the slide to one with the same pie chart and other different 3 on he left.  
"As you can see with the debut of Barnaby Brooks Jr the popularity of all other heroes declined. Now focusing on our hero Rock Bison, it became more obvious after the Jake Martinez incident and the rising of Origami Cyclone popularity because of his involvement in the case. Now with the news of future retirement of Wild Tiger to the hero second league we think our hero can raise his popularity on the next season."  
He kept talking and changing slides, ones with more useful than others (knowing that most of his fans were above thirty wasn't exactly a piece of information he found important but maybe for the marking department it was relevant). Jeff was taking notes from the stuff they were presenting so he felt like he didn't need to pay much attention.  
" Mr Smith if you may." A young man in a lab coat raised from his seat and started talking, pointed to the first slide without charts in all reunion.   
"In our survey we also asked what kind of upgrade and changes our hero, Rock Bison was needing to make."  
He started talking about some of the most important points, like transportation, armor, more interviews, better public presence ( they said Antonio was shy during interviews) and even suggested occasional partnerships with other heroes. And by he way they talked about the partnership thing it wasn't a new topic at least among the people there. The companies could be talking about that possibility behind their backs it wasn't a uncommon procedure.   
Antonio started thinking about he possibilities, the only heroes he could see working together with him were Dragon Kid and Fire Emblem, although Sky High was a good shot, but he doubted that his sponsors would agree, pairing up the king of heroes with the second to last hero would be a bad marketing move for them… or maybe they were planning something with Agnes for the partnership thing. Or to make him the protagonist of one of her strange plots.

" Also what the fans of Hero Tv want is, more speed and more action instead of a reinforcement of his defensive powers. Which lead us to some problems. That would required a new suit and right now we are not on a place that we can afford.…"  
"Sorry to interrupt, but what about an old fashion spandex suit?" Suggested Jeff "he would not the only hero wearing one, and it would be a shout to the old hero fans and a cheap one."  
"We thought about that possibility, but the others sponsors don't agree, they feel like it would be a downgrade to the brand, and it can be really dangerous if our hero isn't with his powers activated but we proposed them a try out in a spandex suit just for a month for the 10th anniversary of Rock Bison’s career of a hero. Till then we will also think of our next step in that department since changing his suit altogether would lead to problems on our merchandising lines."  
Robert Diaz rose from his seat and made a sign for the other man to seat. After that he went near the board and started explaining how they would also change the way they advertised Rock Bison and already planned "public talking" and a whole bunch of public appearances in schools and hospitals, and even a public appearance visit the baby he and Nathan saved yesterday. Antonio found that act a little disgusting, taking advantage of a tragedy to raise his popularity but that was the dark way that business worked so he couldn't refuse. He was thinking of visiting the kid himself in a private way with Nathan.   
The rest of the reunion passed smoothly with Mr Diaz giving him tips and passing on the schedule for the next two weeks and making rearrangements for a next reunion. .   
it was 1 p.m. when the reunion ended. The marketing department kid, Phil, gave them copies of the surveys archive, both in digital format and physical.   
-Thanks!  
-You're welcome. - the man was obviously nervous- If you ever need anything just ask me. I am glad I can help such a good hero as you, Mr Bison.  
Now it was Antonio's turn to be embarrassed, it had been a while since he heard someone (that wasn't Nathan and Mss Robbinson) saying nice things about his job as a hero.  
Jeff offered him a ride home which was nice since he really didn't want to walk around with a big pile of paper.   
-So what did you think?  
-I think it was great that they gave that chance and believed in me.   
-Yeah, that's true, just try to keep doing better. -Antonio nodded - And sorry about what I said this morning. It is none of my business, just be careful. do you want me to leave you at the train station, Justice tower or should I ride you home?  
"Justice Tower please, I still have to train. But if you don't mind I still have to go home pick up the gym bag and leave all these surveys there."  
"No problem. Just wait here a second by the car cause I am gonna pick all your fan letters so you can answer them at home. You also have some online ones on you social media pages to respond to."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the big delay but my computer died and I lost all my fanfics and files so I've been re-writing everything
> 
> I know this is going really slow and I am sorry but I plan this to be long and cute cause they are my otp

Nathan POV

After leaving Antonio at Kronos, Nathan received a call from his manager Gloria to inform him of a reunion after lunch at a construction company because to sign a exclusivity deal with them, and that he had an important dinner with his new sponsors. Nathan thought about the invitation Mrs Robinson made and felt guilty since he couldn't attend it but like Gloria said it was important, not because he needed more sponsors (he had enough money for that) but because it was good to see a company invest their money on a hero like him, heroes that were out and proud, and for sure a pizza selling company had less problems advertising a hero than an energy one. He asked Gloria to try to arrange a meeting with Judge Petrov between his reunions. Gloria contested that part, giving him almost the same speech Agnes used the night before, that he was acting without thinking straight ("Good thing I am not straight then" he responded her) and that he should think a little more before deciding anything. Pissed Nathan shouted at the phone not so nice things and turned the phone off. Immediately after he felt guilty about doing it. He wasn't the kind of person to act like that, he was calm and always thought before talking.  
Later he would apologize to her, now he was in no mood for that and talking would only make things worse.

Since his plans only started after lunch he figured he had a little time to train before that.   
Nathan went to the locker room on the third floor to change to his train clothes ( a simple pink t-shirt and a pair of black trousers), re arranged his make up ( changing to a more "natural" and soft look). Nathan could almost listen to Antonio's voice echoing on his brain, on his first train as a hero _"Why the hell do you need to put all that make up? Face after training you will be as sweaty as us."_

  
The gym was almost empty, only Ivan was training there throwing some shuriken or whatever weapon was that, weapons were not Nathan's strong point . Nathan went to say hi to his fellow hero and then go and start his own training.  
He turned his music player on and started training. He trained harder than usual, it was his way of dealing with the stress and anger. Nathan would never admit it but he was really mad at himself for not being able to rescue everyone the day before. Kids like Adrien weren't supposed to be orphans, not when Heroes like himself had the mission to save them.

He was almost finishing his training when Agnes entered the gym, and approached Nathan to have a talk. He could imagine what would be the topic of the conversation. Adrien. It was obvious she wanted to persuade him not to go ahead with the idea of adopting the kid.

 

"A nice surprise to see you here so early." 

"C'mon Agnes, say whatever you have to say, we are friends for long enough for small talk like that" his tone was not the friendliest one since Agnes expression quickly changed, not that he meant it but it just came out like that.

"As you wish, after your training in my the office." She asked before leaving the gym "And Nate don't be mad at me, please, I am concerned and so is Gloria"

  
Nathan asked himself how did she know about Gloria, but Agnes always knew everything and she and Gloria were long time friends.

He trained more 15 minutes before deciding it was enough and he had to face Agnes. After taking a quick after training bath and doing his make up he went to the producer's office. He knocked the door twice before opening. Agnes was at the phone and writing something on her computer. He made a sign for Nathan to sit and wait a little while she ended that call.

"Don't worry Mr Jefferson, I will talk to him about that." Agnes answered to the person on the phone. "I will do my best to solve this situation don't worry. Have a nice day."

Nathan recognized the name. Jefferson was Antonio's manager. Did he reunion ended already? And what situation were they talking about, was Antonio in any trouble. He hoped that it had nothing to do with last night failed rescue or his reunion this morning.

"Nathan, thank you for waiting. And I'm sorry but I have to do this, not only as your employer but also as you friend. This is about the kid."

  
"I know Agnes, but what I said yesterday still remains.

  
"I know for sure you would be a great parent for that child, you are kind and good dealing with kids, but this I know, not only you are a Hero which makes parenting hard, you can ask Kotetsu about this, and a good one always with interviews and stuff but you also own a company which means that when you are not in Hero related activities you spend your time in reunions. You also do lots of charity work." Nathan didn't look too convinced with her arguments. "A kid, a small one like Adrien is a full time job and you are already overworking. "

  
"I will find someone to help me with my reunions, i wont quit being a hero, as you know I have more than reasons to continue. I wont change my mind about this"

  
"I knew this would happen, once you put your heart into something, no amount of talk can make you change your mind." Agnes sighed So lets make a deal, as you know here in Sternbild before an official adoption you have something that is kind like a trial adoption after the approval of the Justice Bureau, I cant explain you well so ask Judge Petrov details. All i know is that during that time you are being evaluated by a social worker. And don't worry that Hero TV and Judge Petrov will deal with all the secret identity thing. I will be reducing you Hero hours and specials to help you and I wont let you fall behind in the league.  You just have to promise two things." She put her hand in front of Nathan's face and lifted one finger" First you will be giving everything you have for this kid. Second, no words to any of the other Heros, I know you already told Lopez so he will be he only one to know. Once you are past he trial time you can do as you want but you will be back full force to your hero duties. Now don't disappoint me."

  
"Thank you Agnes! For trusting me. I won disappoint you. I promise." Nathan got up to hug Agnes, and thank her again.

"Another thing. Be careful with Lopez, his manager called bothering me to tell the sponsor of Fire Emblem to keep his hands of their hero. Rumor has it that Mr Seymour has a mysterious boyfriend and there is a blurry picture of you two around the internet" Nathan started to argue and saying they were just friends but Agnes didn't seem to care about his excuses " Nate I don't care, jut don't bring problems to me." 

"Ok."

Out o the Justice Tower he looked at his phone to see the time, 1 p.m. It looked like Antonio was still at the reunion since he haven't called yet to tell the news, so instead of waiting for him to have a lunch at the park like they did sometimes Nathan decided to arrange a lunch with Gloria and apologize.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being a slow writer and making the story move so slowly but I really don't know how to make it any other way.

After Jeff leaving him at the door of Justice Tower, Antonio went to the nearest park have his lunch. Antonio tried to call Nathan to tell him the good news and ask if he should wait for lunch but always ended up on his voice mail, so after the 5th time he quit. Keith and Ivan appeared and joined him after a little  
Keith gave Antonio a speech about the meaning of being a good hero and how not being able to save everyone didn't make him any less of a hero.   
"I'm sorry I couldn't arrived earlier and help you and Mr Emblem. I may say that if you are feeling guilty about that I should be guilty as well, and so should be every hero here. We were all there and none of us could do anymore than what you did."  
It was something that Antonio didn't need at that moment, he knew hat Keith meant no harm saying that. Boy had an heart of gold and was always the one trying to make everyone feel good. Antonio stared to think that no matter who comforts him the guilt wont go away.

After lunch both heroes got into the justice tower to start their training. Pao-lin and Karina were already there training, Kotetsu arrived a little after them but neither Nathan and Barnaby were there. Kotetsu came to comfort Antonio ( who was starting to get a little sick of it, the one who needed comfort was the kid not him) and inviting him for a drink. Antonio declined the invitation and gave a weak excuse of taking care of his neighbor and promised that Friday night they would both have a drink. Kotetsu understood that his friend just didn't feel like going out and didn't persuade any further on his mission.  
Antonio started with lifting weights, his fave training exercise. It helped keep his mind clear of the usual intrusive thoughts. the train run smoothly with Antonio changing and making all train circuit without major interruptions. Nathan still didn't appear at the Justice tower so Antonio deduced he had been there training during his reunion. During the training Agnes appeared to announce a reunion at 6 p.m, and that Keith and Karina wouldn't need to attend. She also mentioned to go with their hero attire or the under-suit in case of armor users.  
It was almost 5 p.m. when he made a break to grab a snack. He picked his phone to see a text from Nathan inviting him to eat something. It was pretty recent, so he tried to call him. Antonio wasn't a big fan of texting. Too impersonal and easier to be ignored. 

" Hi Nathan! Just saw your text'  
" Hi sweet buns! Sorry I didn't call you, didn't know if you had finish your training, so texting was better."  
"No problem."  
"Just wanted to know if you want to grab a snack to eat and talk a bit, I'm curious about the outcome of your reunion"  
"Sorry Nath, but I can't." Jeff's words about keeping a distance of Nathan for a while were echoing on his brain " I have a reunion here in less than an hour and I still have to shower and stuff."  
"Oh, but you are free to talk a little right now. So how did it go?"  
"Better than I expected, they were already thinking about that suit changed that you suggested to me."  
"That's really nice! I knew you wouldn't be fired. You need to start lighting up and be less harsh with yourself. A little more self esteem and confidence wouldn't hurt you"  
"Are you sure you weren't at the reunion, cause they talked about that too."  
"Wish I was just to help you a little more."  
"By the way Nath, are you free to dinner with me and Mrs Robinson? I know she invited you."  
"Unfortunately no, " Antonio could hear the disappointment in Nathan's voice" I have a very important business dinner, I think we will have to wait for another day. but if they cancel it you will be the first to know. "  
But tomorrow I have nothing in my agenda besides the usual training so maybe we could have dinner together at my place."  
"Ok." He thought about his manager words again.It wasn't on a public place so Jeff couldn't be mad at him, after all they wouldn't be seen together. "You will cook for me?"  
"Yes, I will and if you want I will do it only wearing a apron." Antonio was laughing at the other side of the phone"   
"I think you can do it with all your clothes on. Now I've gotta go. See ya tomorrow"   
"See ya tomorrow sweet buns. I'll try to call you latter"

 

After a quick shower and change to the under-suit he and the rest of the present heroes minus Karina that had a photo shoot. A kid of the second league were also there. Agnes quickly explained the reason of the reunion They were planning a staged robbery later at night. It was a normal thing they did after a less happy case, or when some heroes had very few points like Rock Bison at that moment, to keep the competition more interesting.   
Barnaby and Blue Rose were making interviews and photo shoots that day, so they wouldn't be present (they also didn't need those points, not the way Antonio needed). Sky High was discharged but then he also wasn't needed that scene. Fire emblem was missing, but like Antonio knew, he had a business dinner and Wild Tiger was there but refused to participate. " I won't pretend to be a hero for points, not when here are people out here needing real help." Agnes didn't mind Tiger's ramblings, from her point of view, as a business woman, he was way better when he was working together with Barnaby. So it was only him, both young Heroes (Origami Cyclone and Dragon Kid), and Elastic Thunder from the second league today. They were planning all the show with the actors and Agnes that wanted the show to look as real as possible.  
Luckily for Antonio that staged show was to be filmed before dinner, which meant he had time to eat with Mrs Robinson (she would wait for him to get home anyway, ignoring his complains about how she should eat and go to bed early).

 

The show only went on air at 6 p.m. just before the news, the show helped him collect some points with a rescue and a criminal caught. 250 points all together, which was way more than any mission in the last three years. It wasn't much but it was to put him on a better position on the league only 5 points above Origami Cyclone helped and only 50 points behind Wild Tiger.   
After the show, Agnes wanted to have a word with him before he had a chance to go home.   
The hopeful part of him expected that Agnes was going to invite him out, but he knew it was impossible, she was a great professional and would never date a co-worker, and Antonio was sure she had a crush on Kotetsu at least for some time. After all she just wanted to talk about Nathan and how Antonio was forbidden to talk about about his plans of adopting Adrien with the other heroes.

After that he went home to have his dinner with Mrs Robinson, and watching the usual commentators of Hero Tv to see what they had to say about him but they were only talking about a upcoming duet with Barnaby and Blue Rose that was announced during the commercial break. It was discouraging seeing the hero work going second to promotional stunts like that. It is not that he didn't like Blue Rose and Barnaby, the kids were amazing, but since their debut being a hero was slowly turning more and more into a idol thing, where selling merch and record deals were even more important than rescuing people.   
Antonio felt asleep late waiting for Nathan's call.


End file.
